Taylor Swift Opens Up About Mental Toll Of Feud With Kanye West And Kim Kardashian Over Famous

Taylor Swift, the 2023 TIME Person of the Year, has opened up about the mental toll of her feud with Kanye West and Kim Kardashian, shedding light on her resilience and determination to overcome challenges. In an interview with TIME, the 33-year-old singer discussed the tumultuous events that transpired in 2016, where Kanye released the song Famous with a controversial lyric about her, leading to a public dispute.

The situation involved an illegally recorded phone call, edited by Kim, which was released to cast doubt on Taylor’s honesty. It left the Delicate singer in a state she had never experienced before.

Taylor had claimed that she did not know about the lyric “I made that bitch famous” because Kanye never ran it by her. However, Kim posted a recorded phone call in which she and Kanye can be heard talking about the lyric “I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex.”

Now looking back at the incident, Taylor described the aftermath as a “career death,” a moment that deeply affected her psyche. She asserted, “Make no mistake — my career was taken away from me,” she stated.

The Grammy-winning artist went on to reveal the extent of her emotional turmoil. According to her, she moved to a foreign country, isolated herself for a year, and grew apprehensive about phone calls. Trust issues led her to distance herself from most people in her life, causing her to spiral emotionally.

Even before the feud, Taylor said she felt vulnerable in her career due to perceptions of being overexposed after the release of 1989. She recounted how critics piled on, describing it as a time when “hyenas climb on and take their shots.” Responding to being labeled a “snake,” she released the revenge-themed album Reputation but continued to face criticism.

Despite these challenges, Taylor shared her journey of learning to focus on her work and persevere as an artist. She expressed gratitude for every moment she gets to create at her level of success. 

One of her takeaways from the issue – “My response to anything that happens, good or bad, is to keep making things. Keep making art.”

She also said she learned that attempting to actively defeat one’s enemies is a futile game. “Trash takes itself out every single time,” she stated.

Speaking about her issue with Kanye in the past, a spokesperson for the Blankspace star said that Kanye truly did not ask Taylor for approval to use such strong word in Famous.

 “She declined and cautioned him about releasing a song with such a strong misogynistic message. Taylor was never made aware of the actual lyric, ‘I made that bitch famous,’” the spokesperson said.